Clevo W650SH/Gigabyte Q2556N - will standard lappy optical drive fit/work?

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
I just bought (but not received yet) a Gigabyte Q2556N, which is just a rebadged Clevo W650SH. It comes with a DVD optical drive, but when you buy it from AVADIRECT or POWERNOTEBOOKs, a BluRay optical drive is optional.

http://www.clevo.com.tw/en/products/prodinfo_2.asp?productid=479

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4641#sp

As you can see, the outside of the drawer is not flat. It has ridge to it that runs sort of diagonally and the top/bottom edges of the outer bezel come to a point in the middle...sorta looks like this from the side. >
DVD_DRIVE.JPG


My point is that this does not appear to be your standard laptop DVD drive that you can buy on Newegg. Being that I don't have the laptop yet, I can't remove the optical drive to see if the guts/connections are standard SATA fare or not.

I'd like to buy this standard lappy BluRay drive for it, but not sure if it would close properly and/or stick out and look like crap. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136257

Anyone know if the DVD/BluRay drives available for this laptop are custom jobs? Is that "pointy faceplate" a bolt-on/stick-on cosmetic faceplate just sitting on a "normal drive?"

Thanks for any info you can provide.
 
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MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
I didn't think I'd get too many replies on this one. ;) This is quite the "oddball problem." Guess I'll be the lab rat on this issue. This Clevo chassis underpins quite a few "boutique laptops" out there. Gigabyte was the only mainstream label I found that offered it with the dGPU stock. Everyone else just makes do with the Intel HD Graphics, which is a shame, given the 19x10 screen.

Laptop comes in tomorrow. I won't have much time to mess with it, but I'll be able to get hands-on and check the drive and it's "fit" out up close and personal.

For the BluRay drive linked above, I found this comment in the "Q&A" area of the Newegg product page.

Almost all laptops have a standard insert for a drive, it's only the face plates that are different and they can be switched out. So yes it should fit.
That's interesting to me, since I did not know that laptop optical drives have "faceplates" like full size 5.25" sometimes do...maybe that "pointy bezel" is just a façade.

But...knowing the way things work, the optical drive may very well turn out to be a proprietary part....and I loathe anything "proprietary", hence my aversion to anything Apple, but this laptop had the specs to beat AND the serviceability for the price. We'll see what happens. If I have to pay a $25 premium for an OEM-only BluRay drive with a screwy bezel, so be it. :|
 
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MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
The laptop is here and it's a beaut!:wub: So far I'm really pleased with it. I've never used Windows 8.1 before...it's got the start button like W7 and I like the fonts in the windows and such...but still...tiles...ugh.

Anyway, it sure looks like that angled faceplate on the DVD is just that. It LOOKS like it bolts on (see pic with my fingers pointing at 2 screws, below).

What I don't know is: ARE THOSE TWO SCREWS' LOCATIONS STANDARD IN ALL LAPTOP OPTICAL DRIVES?

Can I just buy the LG BluRay I linked to in my OP and bolt this faceplate on?

Shots of strange angled faceplate:

DVD4.jpg

DVD3.jpg


Faceplate
DVD2.jpg

DVD1.jpg


Screws that appear to hold faceplate on
screws.jpg
 

fralexandr

Platinum Member
Apr 26, 2007
2,255
202
106
www.flickr.com
the gigabyte uses a 12.7mm laptop optical drive, which is pretty standard (makes sense since it's using a clevo/standard platform).
the lg ct40n is a 12.7mm optical drive.

those screws may or may not be for attaching the faceplate.
there may be a clip system used.
http://www.newmodeus.com/pics/OBHD/OBHD-Faceplate-Installation-Guide.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21PmIDbz_go
other faceplate removals
the faceplate connectors seem to vary a bit across brands, but there are some standard generic faceplate designs, so they may be swappable with some modification.
it might help if you pull out the odd and can buy an optical drive from the same manufacturer.
 
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ringtail

Golden Member
Mar 10, 2012
1,030
34
91
when I had to replace my Clevo (Sager) dvd drive,

I bought a dvd drive off Newegg (Newegg item 27-151-242 DVD BURNER SAMSUNG). It fit perfectly into the Sager (Clevo) except the dang stock bezel attached to the face of the drive didn't fit. The bezel was rectangular, while the Sager slot for it is sort of sloped, not rectangular.

I asked Sager in City of Industry, Calif about it, and they immediately mailed me a bezel that PERFECTLY fit onto the dvd drive and PERFECTLY fit the side slot of my Sager (Clevo). No charge! What NICE people are at Sager. I will definitely buy another Sager when this one gets too old... pretty soon!

Circa 2010 Sager NP8690/Clevo W860CU with i7, Radeon HD 5870, 1920x1080 16:9 LED Backlit Super Clear Glossy Widescreen...by FAR the best laptop I've owned (out of about 8 or 10 of them, most of which I've utterly destroyed while traveling)...Next buy I'll put higher priority on long battery life and less priority on gaming.

Interesting: http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gthlamb.html
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
This was very helpful. It didn't occur to me to buy the new drive from the same manuf, that way the clips/holes/etc in the faceplate would line up. Thanks!

And I may be going to Sager or another Clevo dealer to buy a proprietary drive, if it turns out the stock drive is proprietary. About to find that out here in the next few mins. :hmm:

the gigabyte uses a 12.7mm laptop optical drive, which is pretty standard (makes sense since it's using a clevo/standard platform).
the lg ct40n is a 12.7mm optical drive.

those screws may or may not be for attaching the faceplate.
there may be a clip system used.
http://www.newmodeus.com/pics/OBHD/OBHD-Faceplate-Installation-Guide.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21PmIDbz_go
other faceplate removals
the faceplate connectors seem to vary a bit across brands, but there are some standard generic faceplate designs, so they may be swappable with some modification.
it might help if you pull out the odd and can buy an optical drive from the same manufacturer.
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
As luck would have it, it's a dead-standard Samsung SN-208. This one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151261

So I guess I have to try and find a Samsung BluRay player in order to increase the odds of the faceplate bolting on?

I know Samsung OEMs their own SSDs (I own 4 of them) but do they OEM their own optical drives? I know LG OEMs...like everyone's drives...but what about Samsung? Interestingly, my drive says "Toshiba Samsung" on it. Weird.

*edit*
I'm thinking the answer is "Yes, they do." http://www.mydvddrives.com/samsung-9

Thanks again for all the help!

*another edit*
I found a Samsung BR reader drive on EBay. It appears to have the same outer casing as the stock DVD in my laptop, so I bought it. I'll report back in a week or so or whenever the thing gets here from China.

This is the drive: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181190550612?ssPageName=STRK:MEBOFFX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1427.l2649

Funny how the seemingly simplest things just aren't. /facepalm
 
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MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
Hey all,

Just wanted to report back that I successfully swapped the funky bezel from the stock DVD drive to the BluRay drive I bought off EBay. It was a PITA getting the bezels off both drives b/c you can't really see the little tabs that hold them on.

I broke the tabs on the stock bezel on the BluRay drive, but thankfully did not injure the slots they clip into. The whole swap process took a whopping 15 minutes or so. :D

Everything is working great...except for the fact that I need to buy some BluRay player software now. I have a copy of CyberLink Power DVD that came with my LG Bluray drives, but the software won't install unless you have an LG drive. Oh well.

Thanks again for all your help!